Doug has a wealth of experience as a personal trainer. He has a rich and varied training history and has acquired veteran status in an industry with a notoriously high turnover rate. He has competed in gymnastics and Crossfit and is the co-founder of R3 personal training and is a genuine part-time Ninja!

What is the book you've recommended most and why? Or what are 2-3 books that have greatly influenced your life?

'The Power of Now' Eckhart Tolle & 'Homo Deus' Yuval Noah Harari.

What is the best investment you've ever made?

The best one has been investing time with my kids.

Editor's note: Doug runs regular weekend camping excursions to Sai Kung over the Summer.

What unusual habit do you have?

I have a Salt and Vinegar chip fetish

What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise?

Mostly dogmatic advice:

I feel that there is usually more than one way to get a job done.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to get in the best shape of their life? What advice should they ignore?

My advice would be to truly figure out what will motivate you to adhere towards your training goals and to ignore other people’s preconceptions of what your goals should be.

Why do most people fail or give up?

The most failure I see is from people choosing unrealistic goals that are not relevant to them and are too extreme to adhere to over longer periods of time.

Tell me something that's true that almost nobody else agrees with you on.

Carbs do not easily turn to fat, your carb intake has to be close to 1kg before you will start storing it as fat.

What strongly held belief have you changed your mind on in the last year?

The thought that dieting is a very complicated science. In my opinion, it turns out to be as complicated as you would like it to be.